Taking a page from the startup world, a growing number of food banks are carving out entrepreneurial teams and tasking them with exploring new, experimental ways to eradicate hunger. Described variously as innovation labs, research institutes or strategy groups, the independent units recognize that traditional methods of addressing hunger have…
Posts published in “Strategy”
Like a farmer’s market on wheels, mobile food markets have emerged in recent years as handy solutions for organizations seeking to bring fresh produce to vulnerable populations. Yet the pantries are not without their Achilles’ heels, as organizations have sometimes struggled to find the appropriate mix of product, pricing, location…
Food banks often do more than basic food distribution by offering programs that help people gain a foothold out of poverty. Workforce training, financial literacy classes and access to benefits all fall within this category. Now, San Antonio Food Bank is expanding even further the definition of what a food…
Second Harvest Heartland of Minnesota announced last week that it would invest $13.2 million into smoothing out racial disparities in the way it distributes food, partly by making food more accessible and appealing to communities of color. The commitment, which will roll out over five years, covers a wide breadth…
A number of small-scale farms have taken root at food banks and pantries across the country. Paradoxically, those who work on them will be the first to tell you that growing food for its own sake is not necessarily a top priority. “Obviously, in serving 200 people a day, the…
In an outgrowth of the pandemic, food banks from New Hampshire to Texas to California are starting to permanently drop fees typically imposed on pantries. When Covid first hit, food banks began temporarily lifting the shared maintenance fees pantries pay to food banks to help defray the costs of transporting,…
After decades of relying on donated food, food banks are starting to place more emphasis on purchasing food. The trend appears to be an outgrowth of Covid, which forced food banks to purchase food by the truckload as constricted supply chains put the squeeze on donated food. The purchases, along…
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is redefining itself. The nation’s 12th-largest food bank is in the beginning stages of a multi-year, multi-tiered strategy aimed at building connections with community groups that have deep roots in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. The goal is to transfer power and resources to grassroots…
Fundraising is a big part of any nonprofit’s work. But what happens when the relentless drive to get money and please donors comes at the expense of an organization’s core values? That’s the question C. Nathan Harris posed to the Oregon Food Bank two years ago when he was interviewing…